Too Late
by Katie Ladmoore
Summary: In the midst of the Clone Wars, secrets can be pretty hard to keep. Meanwhile, tensions rise not only between the Republic and the Separatists, but also within the Jedi, and romance blossoms along the way. But one choice could ruin them all forever.
1. Prologue and A Mission

**Well, here's the new story, _Too Late_! First of all, I would like to thank formerAnnie, Renesmee Culleswan, Jocasta Silver, and Falconstar for reviewing the last chapter of this one's predecessor. Your support helps me a lot! Second, if you haven't read _Loveless?, _I suggest you read it, because this may or may not be able to stand alone, plus you may get a greater knowledge of some of the characters than from what I've given you here. I hope you like it, and please review! Hopefully this is better than the last...**

**I don't own Star Wars, and I never will... How sad.**

* * *

_**Prologue**_

_Night had already fallen over Coruscant as the cloaked figure swept over the crimson-carpeted floor. With a flick of her hand, the doors parted, hissing softly. She entered the room; someone else was waiting for her._

"_You're late, Monious."_

_The cloaked woman pursed her lips and scowled._

"_My daughter broke out in a high fever only about two seconds before I left."_

_The other person shrugged, clearly dismissing the matter. Darth Monious's brat of a daughter. This was exactly why he hated children. They got in the way of his affairs. _

"_Never mind that. You're here _now_. So, have you been keeping up with your assignment?"_

"_With great interest. She's been progressing. Which reminds me, have _you_ been keeping up with _yours_?"_

"_Of course."_

"_And how has _he _been progressing?" Monious asked._

_It was the second shadowy figure's turn to purse his lips this time._

"_Ah… not as well as we had hoped…"_

_Monious's eyes lit up with an angry fire._

"_Sidious! You _know_ they must be pulled simultaneously! We will fail if one comes without the other!"_

_Sidious recoiled. From what was seemingly nowhere, the hilt of a lightsaber was drawn. Sidious ignited the blade and thrust it underneath Monious's throat._

"_Are you saying I'm not pulling Skywalker correctly?" he growled._

_Monious looked down at the scarlet blade precariously hovering next to her throat. Then her eyes moved back to stare up at Sidious levelly, her expression cool._

"_All I'm saying is that we must be careful. We can't afford to blunder, not even the slightest bit."_

_Sidious lowered his blade and deactivated it. He hid it away again._

"_You're right. But you need not fret for long; I have a plan. It will speed up the process by tenfold."_

_Monious looked interested. She sat down in one of the plushy chairs in the office. _

"_Tell me about it."_

_Sidious sat down across from her._

"_Skywalker has revealed to me a great secret… It is a sign that he will join us! He has told me that…" Sidious paused, something like a smile playing across his lips. "Skywalker is _married_… to _Senator Amidala_!"_

_Monious was astonished._

"_So _he_ is the father!"_

_Sidious nodded and continued, "Remember his dreams about his mother? I will send him dreams just like those, of Amidala dying in childbirth. I am sure I will then be able to convince him the answer to saving her lies with us. His love for her is his biggest weakness, not his arrogance, as the Jedi think."_

"_Yes! Yes!" Monious cheered. "Oh, and don't forget plan about the Council, either. That's imperative… for both of them."_

"_Yes," Sidious acknowledged. "With that, and the dreams, Skywalker will be a Sith before this time next year."_

"_I wonder…" Monious mused. "Does Moonrunner have a similar weakness?"_

_Sidious's lips parted to form a smile, revealing yellowed, rotten teeth. _

"_That, my dear Monious, is your job to find out." _

* * *

**Chapter One**

_"Hello, Emma."_

_The silky, reptilian voice floated towards the woman yet again. Emma whirled around to find a dark, cloaked figure, gliding towards her. She sighed. It was going to be another one of those dreams..._

_"Is there ever going to be a time when I _don't_ receive visits from you?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from quivering with fear. "I won't do it, you know."_

_"I'm not here to try to turn you."_

_"Then what's the point of your coming here?"_

_Monious shrugged innocently._

_"I just want to talk."_

_"I have better things to do than waste my time talking to a Sith!" Emma spat out the last word._

_Darth Monious pulled down the hood of her cloak, finally revealing her face. It was a face Emma recognized clearly, but when the dream passed, she would not be able to recall who it was._

_"Then so be it."_

_Monious stuck out her hands; fierce bolts of Force Lightning erupted from them, shocking Emma. Emma doubled over and cried out in pain._

"AH!" Emma Moonrunner squeaked, sitting up in bed. She groped for the sheets, but she was just grabbing at air. Her sheets were in a pile on the floor. There was a groan from the other side of the room.

"Emma... Mistress... can't you sleep noiselessly for once?" Emma's apprentice, Taisha Starminick, moaned.

"I can't help having bad dreams!" Emma snapped, wiping the cold sweat from her face. "Do you think I _like _waking up sweaty and disgusting?"

"No," Taisha sighed. "I guess it's time to get up anyway. Ha, I'll tell you, you're really annoying when you scream in your sleep, but you have excellent timing."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Emma dragged the sheets back onto her bed.

"You make a fabulous alarm clock."

Emma sighed.

"Gee, thanks."

The two Jedi walked out of the room and entered the breakfast area. Master Dash-el Perr was waiting for them. He was acting as usual, reading yet another battle report.

Without looking up from the report, he said, "I could hear you again, Emma."

"Everyone's a critic," his former apprentice hissed.

"I'm just saying."

Emma tugged at her pajamas. They were sticky from her sweat and stuck to her skin.

"I need to change," she grumbled, returning to the room.

A few minutes later, she emerged, wearing a soot-black tunic with pants and boots of the same color.

"Master, have you heard from Master Navarr?"

Dash-el shook his head.

"It should be any time now."

Coincidentally, Dash-el's comlink buzzed.

"Hello, Master Navarr; are you and Padawan Mercury ready to go?"

"Meet us outside the base in five minutes," was the other Jedi Master's staticky reply.

As Dash-el shut off the connection on the comlink, Emma turned to Taisha.

"Get changed. _Quickly_, this time, please!"

Taisha sighed.

"Fine!"

* * *

Five minutes later, Emma, Taisha, and Dash-el had joined forces with a dark-haired Jedi about the same age as Dash-el and his red-headed apprentice, who was one year older than Taisha.

"Are you ready?" the dark-haired Master asked the group.

Emma nodded.

"Yes. Now, the town is this way," Emma pointed to the west. "It's still pretty dark over where the base is, so we will probably be able to sneak over there without being seen, if we hurry. So-"

"Emma! This is Master Navarr's mission, not yours. Let him doing the planning," Dash-el stated sternly.

"She's fine, Dash-el. Remember that she's not your apprentice anymore. I don't mind, anyway. She's absolutely correct," Oram Navarr dismissed. "So, let's take Mistress Moonrunner's advice and head west."

The five Jedi pulled the camouflage cloaks from their backpacks and put them on, keeping them from standing out too much in the forests of Endor. The entire trek to the Ewok town, Emma kept her hand on her lightsaber while Oram delineated his plan to help the Ewoks.

* * *

Before too long, the five Jedi arrived at the Ewok's town. Of course, it didn't look normal. At least three hundred battle droids were swarming around the encampment.

"I smell Separatists," Emma growled.

"I smell blaster smoke," Taisha replied.

Emma lifted her left arm, which was clad in a black bracer. Nestled in the bracer was her comlink. She pressed a button on it.

"Commander, now!" she hissed.

Upon her command, a battalion of clones exploded from the undergrowth. Immediately, they began shooting at the droids, who, in retaliation, shot back. The Jedi drew their lightsabers to deflect the blasts. In time, the smoke cleared, and the various bodies of clones and droids dotted the forest floor. With the remaining clones left in tow, Oram deactivated his lightsaber.

"Good job!" he said brightly. "Let's continue."

He led the group through the city. Ewoks were huddled fearfully in niches within the city. In the center of it all was the chief of the Ewoks. And the sight wasn't pretty. A Separatist was holding his blaster, nefariously pointing it at the diminutive chief.

"We'd _like_ those supplies you promised us," the Separatist demanded, his teeth gritted impatiently.

The Ewok gurgled and babbled in his native language. Emma picked out a few words, roughly translating the message into something like, "I never promised you anything."

The Separatist was beginning to look frustrated.

"Look, I don't really care if you promised supplies to us or not. Give them to us anyway!"

Oram looked over at the other two Jedi and the two Padawans.

"Now?"

The remaining four nodded.

Oram walked boldly out into the plaza-like clearing, with Dash-el, Emma, Taisha, and Eris behind him.

"Xiarr Kolzaar. I thought I smelled a slimeball like you."

Xiarr, the Separatist, stared in disbelief at the Jedi leading the mission. He lowered his blaster.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he sneered.

"Camping. This moon of Endor is so lovely at this time of year."

"Droids," Kolzaar commanded, "Get them. Now."

The battle droids hefted their blasters and began to fire; the Separatist commanding them switched the position of his blaster, sending his bolts to the five Jedi.

"COMMANDER!" Emma shouted, signaling the leader of her troops to join the second battle. Within an appropriate time, only the Separatist was left standing on the Trade Federation's side. The Jedi surrounded him.

"Eris, are you ready?" Navarr asked, his eyes not leaving Xiarr.

The red-haired Padawan nodded.

"Yes, Master."

With a swift cut of his blue lightsaber blade, he disarmed the man, deactivated his lightsaber, and handcuffed the prisoner.

"Nice job," Taisha told Eris.

To Emma, Eris seemed to color slightly, all the way up to his ginger hairline.

* * *

The next morning, Emma and Taisha were lounging around in their quarters in Coruscant.

"Mistress, what are we going to do for your birthday tomorrow?"

Emma moistened her lips. She had already made plans to visit her (secret) husband, Senator Garrett Lowen, on Fresia.

"Gee, Taisha, I was planning to go to Fresia tomorrow," she said smoothly. Before Taisha could ask why, she quickly added, "We can do something today, though. There's plenty of time left before I go tomorrow morning."

"Fine. So what are we going to do for your birthday _today_?"

"Surprise me."

* * *

**Well... that's done... That was kinda fast... wish I could write _Lake Wars_ this quickly. Well, hope you liked it! And, as always, review, please!**

**You know what's weird? I'm posting this in the middle of my Lit Comp class. But it's study hall and I have nothing important to do. Except study for midterms. Which I'll do at home.**


	2. A Disturbance

**Hi, everyone! Here's Chapter 2! And it's timely! (Me? Timely? What?) Thanks a whole bunch to Sheila V, Jocasta Silver, and formerAnnie for your very kind reviews! And also thanks to Spocktimus Prime for favoriting! A good start for me, by my standards! So here's your next chapter, and I hope you like it!**

**I don't own Star Wars, as always. But I do own all the movies. Does that count? No? I thought not...**

* * *

Emma stood at the threshold of the familiar Fresian mansion, fumbling for a key inside one of her belt pouches. She found it, inserted it into the deadbolt, twisted it, and opened the door. The memory of the first time she ever entered the house flooded to her, and she smiled at the recollection.

"Garrett!" she called as she walked in. "I'm here!"

Technically, this was her own home; it had become hers the moment she had married Senator Garrett Lowen almost three years ago. Of course, being a Jedi, Emma couldn't publicly claim it as such, but it was nice to have a place to go to after an exhausting mission or anything else. It also helped that she had known her husband for twelve and a half years, and she could state that she was just "visiting a _friend_" while in truth, she was off to spend some time with her _husband_.

At the sound of his wife's voice, Garrett walked into the foyer of the house, grinning. He was a somewhat tall man, with light blue-gray eyes, blond hair, and a considerably thick Coruscanti accent. Emma's face lit up in a smile as she saw him, and she set down her bag and ran to him.

"Happy birthday!" Garrett told her.

He swept Emma into his arms, breathing in her warm, sweet scent, glad that she was alive and had survived her latest missions.

"You remembered!" Emma remarked happily as she looked up at him, beaming.

"Of course I did!" Garrett smiled and chuckled. "Hard not to, when you wrote it all over my calendar. Don't you recall?"

"I _do _recall! And it worked!" remarked Emma happily.

"And it worked so well, I was able to buy you…" Garrett walked over to the entryway table, picked up a small package wrapped in gold paper, hid it behind his back, and returned to where Emma was standing. "…this," he finished, holding out the package.

"Garrett, you shouldn't have," Emma said, turning the package over in her hand and opening it. She tore off the paper wrappings curiously. Inside was a small, black box. Emma flicked open the latch. This revealed a ring with a gold band and diamonds and sapphires sparkling back at her. Curled up next to the ring was a blue cord, matching the sapphires. This cord implied that the ring was intended to become the pendant to a necklace.

"Strike that," Emma choked back tears. "You _should_ have. Thank you!"

"You really like it? You're not faking it just to make me happy?"

Emma nodded, fingering the diamonds dreamily.

"I was a little nervous, giving you jewelry," Garrett continued. "I know you're not a fan, but…"

"Garrett," Emma cut him off. "It's beautiful! I love it!"

"Then may I?"

Emma nodded eagerly.

"Yes, please!"

Garrett took the gift, slipped the end of the cord through the ring, tied the knot, and placed the necklace around his wife's neck. Emma glanced down and smiled at the necklace she was now wearing.

"I love you, Garrett," she sniffled.

She moved forward and hugged Garrett again.

"I love you too."

Emma kissed Garrett thoroughly, her lips pressing to his firmly.

* * *

While Emma and Garrett were off having an enjoyable time on Fresia, on Coruscant, Dash-el and Taisha were not having so much fun. There were mission reports to be filled out, other Jedi's mission reports to be read, briefings to attend… Being a Jedi wasn't easy, especially during the Clone Wars. This was being reflected often in Dash-el's moods, and this particular day, Emma's absence didn't really ameliorate things.

The Jedi paced impatiently across the floor of his quarters; Taisha sat on the floor with her back against the wall, organizing her missing mentor's mission reports.

"Why, does she have to be gone_ today_?" Dash-el seethed, his teeth gritted. "The day after a mission, and she decides to run off to Fresia and do _nothing_!"

"Well, it _is_ her birthday, plus her nightmares have been getting worse lately," Taisha pointed out, not looking up from the reports.

"That's no excuse. _We _don't have the privilege of flitting off to spend our time on a completely different system on _our_ birthdays, and she needs to learn to be able to deal with the dreams. She's been having them since she was eleven; you'd think she'd become accustomed to it!"

"With all due respect, Master Dash-el, I think you would benefit from a break as well," replied Taisha softly.

Dash-el was about to open his mouth to reprimand the Padawan, but he stopped himself.

"I need to meet with the Council," he muttered. "They're reassigning me for another campaign on Malastare. I'll see you in a few months."

"Okay, bye!" Taisha said brightly, still not looking up from the reports.

The door of the quarters slammed shut behind Dash-el. Finally, Taisha unglued her eyes from her work. She sighed. Even only five seconds of being by herself was boring.

* * *

Emma and Garrett were sitting on the couch in sitting room outside their bedroom, talking and catching up on everything they had missed in the past few months since they had last seen each other. It was already dark, getting late, and silver moonlight was beginning to spill through the cracks of the closed blinds.

"I had another nightmare two nights ago," Emma murmured absently, staring at the carpeted floor.

Garrett moved closer to her and put his arm around her shoulders. It always upset him when Emma had nightmares; the dreams always bothered her so much, and it hurt Garrett to see Emma troubled. Unfortunately, he had no idea what to make of the dreams when she told him, so the best he could do was try to comfort her from the shock.

"What happened?" he asked softly.

"I… I can't really explain it. It was one of those rare ones… where I'm actually talking to someone in the dream. Most of the time, you know, it's just a premonition of some sort. But not this time... Darth Monious came to me, and when I told her I wasn't going to turn Sith, she… she didn't care this time. She told me she _just wanted to talk_. I told her I wasn't going to waste my time; that's when she got mad. Then she shocked me with Force Lightning, as usual."

"I'm sorry."

Garrett stroked a strand of hair sticking to his wife's face and tucked it behind her ear. Emma moistened her lips nervously.

"There's… there's something else," she whispered. "She pulled her hood back. I saw who she was."

"Who?"

Emma shook her head.

"I… I don't remember."

"Have you talked to anyone else about it, besides me?"

Emma shook her head.

"Taisha knows I had it, but I didn't tell her anything about it."

"Why not? Come on, Em, she's your best friend."

"I shouldn't. She won't know what to tell me and she'll have me defer it to someone worse, like Master Dash-el or the Council."

"Why don't you ask the Council, then? I'm sure Master Yoda or Master Adi-Mundi wouldn't mind hearing you out."

Emma shook her head obdurately.

"I don't want the Council to know a thing. They can't…"

Garrett would have questioned as to why not, but he had grown to know better than to argue with her. Emma had a strange system of logic that only she could fully understand.

"Well, then you can always talk to me," he murmured sympathetically.

Emma didn't say anything; instead she just sighed and wiggled to fit herself in Garrett's arms more comfortably.

* * *

Taisha, having finally caught up with her mentor's paperwork, walked boredly over to the spire housing the Council chambers. She had been summoned there for a reason that hadn't been revealed yet, and Taisha couldn't help but wonder why. She pushed open the door, and the Council members looked up at her.

"Padawan Starminick," Master Windu addressed shortly.

Taisha walked to the center of the chamber and bowed politely before replying, "Yes, Master?"

"We are appointing you and Mistress Moonrunner for a mission on Sarapin. Some Separatists, we believe, are planning to destroy the Republic's energy collectors there. Our investigations there have confirmed that they have set up a base there. Infiltrate the base, steal their plans, and bring them back to us. We have assigned Master Skywalker and his Padawan to assist you."

Taisha was in the middle of nodding her acceptance when she froze.

"Yes, Mast—Wait."

Master Windu seemed to sigh impatiently.

"What, Padawan Starminick?"

"Mistress Moonrunner… she's not going to like working with Master Skywalker. You see, she has this problem with him... They don't get along well. At all. The mission could fail if they're put together."

"Then I suggest she learns to get along with him and get over her problem quickly," Windu said through gritted teeth.

Taisha nodded again.

"Yes, Master."

She turned around and left, fully dreading Emma's reaction when she returned to Coruscant that next morning.

* * *

Emma woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of her comlink vibrating on the nightstand table. She glanced over at Garrett, hoping the sound of the vibrating hadn't awakened him. It hadn't. Emma grasped the comlink, aggravated, and slid her toes down the side of the bed and onto the floor. The room was cold, so she took an extra blanket off the bed and wrapped herself in it. She slipped out of bed carefully and walked into the refresher.

"Hello?" she snapped.

"Mistress? It's me," Taisha said from the other line, her voice garbled by the transmission.

"I was _sleeping_, Padawan," Emma muttered through gritted teeth.

Taisha immediately knew she was in trouble; Emma almost never addressed her as "Padawan"… except for when she was annoyed or angry with her.

"I… I'm sorry, Mistress," squeaked Taisha nervously. "I… I thought you might still be awake."

"What do you want?"

Emma's blue eyes were narrowed crossly.

"Well, a little while ago, since you were gone, the Council summoned me instead of you, and they…"

Taisha broke off. Maybe this wasn't the kind of thing to tell someone over a comlink connection.

"Never mind."

On her end, Emma seethed.

"_What_? You're going to wake me up in the middle of the night, start to tell me something important, and then decide it can wait till I get home?"

Emma's nails dug into the countertop.

"I… Mistress… Lapse of judgment. I… I'm sorry!"

Emma said nothing; instead she switched off the connection irritably and slammed the comlink down on the countertop. She stalked out of the refresher and got back into bed. However, she couldn't get back to sleep. Perhaps it was a good thing, since it would be impossible for her to have a nightmare while awake. But perhaps not.

* * *

Morning dawned over Fresia as the moons set and the sun rose. Garrett woke up to sunlight shining through the windows of the room. He sat up to find Emma missing. Her side of the bed was cold. This confused Garrett; normally, he woke up before her, and if she did wake up before him, it wasn't by such a large margin that her side of the bed would be cold. He walked downstairs to find her in the kitchen, insipidly picking at her now-soggy breakfast. She didn't look up as Garrett sat down across from her.

"Emma?"

Emma glanced up to meet Garrett's eyes, though only briefly. But it was enough for Garrett to tell what was wrong with her. She definitely hadn't slept much.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Garrett queried softly.

Emma shook her head.

"Taisha called me and woke me up," she mumbled, almost unintelligibly.

"What did she want?"

"I don't know. She began to tell me, but she changed her mind."

Garrett raised an eyebrow.

"You couldn't sleep after that?"

Emma sighed. She made eye contact with her husband, a somber expression lining her face.

"She was saying something about being summoned by the Council, Garrett."

Garrett didn't have to be a Jedi to sense Emma's foreboding of what was to happen later that day.

* * *

**I have decided that the canon characters will be a lot more involved in this story than in the previous one. Huzzah! I've always wanted to write about Anakin! Now thanks for reading, and please review!**


	3. Disputes

**Hi! Thanks to Sheila V and formerAnnie for your reviews of the last chapter! Your reviews mean a lot to me! So, without further ado, here is the third chapter.**

**Disclaimer: My mother wasn't even ten years old yet when Star Wars first came out. I don't think it's possible for me to own it. Darn.**

* * *

Emma was back on Coruscant by midday. Knowing that she could most certainly _not_ get away with sneaking into her quarters and trying to convince her Padawan that she had, in fact, been there the entire day, she blatantly strode into her quarters with a rather bold entrance .

"Mistress! You're back!" Taisha exclaimed upon Emma's arrival.

Emma nodded and set down her bag, frowning.

"Something's wrong with you," she remarked.

Taisha furrowed her eyebrows.

"Good to see you too, Mistress."

Rolling her eyes, Emma sighed,

"I didn't mean that. There's something on your mind. Are you worried about how mad I am about the calling-me-in-the-middle-of-the-night thing?"

Taisha winced.

"Kind of, yes, but I'm more worried about what I was calling to tell you about."

Emma groaned and buried her face in a nearby pillow.

"Great. What?"

"Well, while you were gone," Taisha began, digging her toes into the floor, "the Council gave us an assignment… Another mission."

"Why would they give _us_ another assignment while _I_ am not on Coruscant?"

"It's important. And urgent."

Emma's eyes narrowed, and she scowled darkly.

"The Council doesn't trust me with receiving the mission directly."

"I'm sure they do, but you were busy."

Emma chuckled briefly to herself.

"I was busy, eh? Well, what was the assignment?

"Well, we're teaming up with Master Skywalker and his apprentice, and we're going to Sarapin to infiltrate the Separatist base there, steal their plans, and shut down the base, hopefully."

Emma recoiled, a dangerous look glinting in her eyes.

"WHAT?"

"We're teaming up with—" Taisha began impatiently, but Emma cut her off.

"I know what you said! We're not going."

"But… It's the Council's orders!"

"I don't care! I am _not_ going on a mission with that overconfident _narcissist!_"

Taisha tried desperately but futilely to get her mentor to calm down.

"Mistress, stop! The Council knows you don't get along, so they're probably giving this mission to us so you can learn to like each other again! They _know_ you used to be best friends before you two came here to become Jedi!"

"Yes, we were. And when we started our training, Anakin turned into an arrogant little—ugh!"

Emma stalked off to her room, her dark blue eyes flaring purple momentarily.

"We have to leave as soon as possible!" Taisha called after her. "If you keep Master Skywalker waiting, he's just going to be even more annoying to you!"

Emma let out a frustrated, angry sound and stomped back into the room.

"Fine. Where are they waiting?"

"The main foyer. I set up a meeting place and an approximate meeting time with them earlier this morning. And that approximate meeting time is, like, _now_."

Emma relented, sighing.

"All right, fine. You and the Council win. And since when do you plan? I'm spontaneous! Has Dash-el been rubbing off on you again?"

Taisha frowned briefly, but she got over it and picked up a memory chip.

"The Council gave me this," she said. "It's a map of Sarapin, as well as the location of the base."

Emma snatched it from her Padawan's hand and turned it over a few times in her palm.

"I guess this will turn out to be useful enough."

She slipped on her cloak and strode out of the quarters, securing her comlink on the bracer on her left arm. Taisha took a deep breath and followed her. She could already tell that this was going to be a long mission…

* * *

The two arrived in the main foyer of the Temple to find Anakin and his apprentice, Ahsoka, waiting for them. Emma regarded her old friend coldly.

"Mistress Moonrunner," Anakin greeted politely, dipping his head.

"Anakin," returned Emma stiffly.

Anakin scowled briefly at Emma's refusal to call him "Master."

"Hello, Ahsoka," Taisha said.

Ahsoka returned her counterpart's salutation rather brightly. Taisha and Ahsoka had no problem with each other. In fact, they were both frequently annoyed by their mentors' constant rows.

"We're taking _my_ ship, in case you don't mind, _Emma_," informed Anakin frigidly.

Emma let out an exasperated breath.

"Then we're bringing _my_ troops to do this mission with us," she replied. There was no way she wasn't going to get even.

"Whatever," Anakin said.

All four went to the hangar where the Republic's ships were kept. On the way there, Emma and Anakin managed to talk to each other without quarrelling, but when it came time to leave, their streak was wrecked. They both wanted to fly the ship.

"It's _my_ ship!" Anakin protested after Emma asserted that _she_ was going to be the one to fly.

"_I'm_ older than you, and therefore more responsible!"

"I'm the best pilot in the galaxy!"

"You know, the galaxy doesn't revolve around you! _Some people_ may have just as much talent as you, but _they_ don't have an ego the size of an entire system to go flaunting his or her success!"

"_I'm_ the one with the ego? How about _you_? 'Oh, I'm Emma! I got Knighted when I was twenty and then they immediately gave me an apprentice! Tee hee, the Council _loves_ me! I'm better than you, Anakin! Haha, the Council likes _me_ best!'" Anakin scoffed in a falsetto, mimicking Emma.

"Leave my apprentice out of this, _skocha-kloonkee_!" Emma hissed.

"_What _did you just call me?"

"You heard me."

"I'm lost," Taisha whispered to Ahsoka.

"I think _your_ mentor just called _my_ mentor an exhaust-for-brains," replied Ahsoka quietly.

"I see."

Taisha nodded slowly.

"And anyway, _Emma_, _I'm_ the one in the prophecy! _I'm _the Chosen One! _I'm_ the one who's going to bring balance to the Force!"

That did it. Emma's eyes flared into a violent, dark purple.

"Fine then. Fly the stupid ship and revel in your egotistical self-righteousness!"

She stormed off to the back of the ship, leaving the other three standing there in the cockpit awkwardly. Anakin looked angry. Ahsoka and Taisha looked flustered.

"I'll go calm her down," Taisha announced, leaving the cockpit.

She found her mistress standing in the back of the ship, her arms crossed and glaring furiously at nothing in particular.

"Mistress… Master Skywalker doesn't know anything. I'm sure if he did know, he wouldn't pull that card with you."

"Yeah, and the reason he doesn't know is because the Council is too afraid to burst his arrogant bubble!"

"That's not it."

"Then what is?"

Taisha couldn't give her a straightforward answer.

"How am I to know what he or the Council thinks? I do not know him well."

"But I do. And _I _think that the Council is afraid of hurting his pride."

"And that is _your_ opinion, Mistress. Please at least _try_ to cooperate! You two are leading the mission for the Order and for the Republic, and the mission_ will _fail if you don't get along for any part of it!"

Emma scowled, but slowly, she began to relax a little bit. She returned back to the cockpit leisurely.

"I'll call my troops to come follow us," she informed Anakin.

Taisha had followed Emma out of the back and had taken up a spot in one of the passenger seats next to Ahsoka. This left only the seat next to Anakin left for Emma. Anakin only nodded gruffly as Emma contacted her troop leader. Soon enough, they and the clone troops were on their way.

* * *

Emma, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Taisha were now only less than a parsec away from Sarapin. Anakin and Emma hadn't argued at all, to Ahsoka and Taisha's relief; in fact, they had barely spoken at all. Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, no one was exactly sure. Finally, they arrived on Sarapin. Emma was the first one off the ship. Taisha followed her. Anakin came next, and last of all, Ahsoka. Emma fiddled around with one of her belt pockets.

"What are you doing?" Anakin asked, but not curiously; his tone was more judgmental and disapproving.

"I'm looking for the data ship about this planet that the Council gave Taisha. I put it in one of my belt pockets."

Emma rummaged around some more and eventually produced the small ship that she had snatched from Taisha's hands earlier.

"Mistress Moonrunner, if it helps, we can have Artoo project the information for you," Ahsoka offered, indicating a blue astromech droid that Anakin had insisted they bring with them.

Emma looked up from examining the chip.

"Oh. Thank you, Padawan Tano."

She got onto her knees and inserted the chip into the droid. It beeped and whirred a bit, and a holographic message shimmered into the air in front of them. The image was large, and an excellent map of the planet. A tiny red dot indicating the location of the Separatist base blinked a considerable distance away from the green dot indicating the four's location.

"We're going to have to go all the way _there_? This planet is huge! And covered in lava!" Emma complained.

"Are you afraid of a challenge, Emma? And anyway, you're missing something _very obvious_: we can simply fly over to the base."

"If _you_ weren't missing anything, exhaust-brain, then _you'd_ realize that the Separatists' radar would detect us the second we got anywhere close to the base!"

Taisha and Ahsoka exchanged an look that said, _"Not another argument!" _However, their mentors didn't erupt into fighting for the thousandth time.

"Then we would land outside the range of their radar."

"We don't know how wide the range is. I say we walk it."

"Walk it? You were just complaining about the distance."

"Well, now I think it would be the wisest we walked. Do _you_ have any problems with walking, Anakin?"

"Of course not! Besides the fact that lava makes me a bit uncomfortable, I'm perfectly capable!"

Emma looked at him rather darkly.

"Good. You're going to need it."

* * *

Emma's troops had rendezvoused with the Jedi, and now all of them were trekking across the jagged terrain. R2D2 rolled along clumsily with them, chirping happily to Anakin. The astro droid was still projecting the map, and the green dot moved ever so slightly as they walked onward. Practically everyone looked rather miserable, and the clones were sighing occasionally.

"I apologize, Commander," Emma told her clone in charge.

"It's okay, General. I don't think flying straight to the base would have been the wisest way, either."

Anakin glanced over his shoulder at them and scowled. Emma met his eyes and smirked.

"This is why you're in charge, Commander," she told the clone smugly.

Anakin glared even more and looked back in front of him. Emma smiled to herself and walked a little faster to hike next to her apprentice.

A few hours later, the sky grew dark, and Emma stopped suddenly.

"We're stopping here for the night," she announced, taking a tent out of the backpack that one of the clones had distributed to her and the other three.

"What? We can't stop now! We're more than halfway there! We can gain so much ground if we walk during the night!" Anakin protested.

"And risk tripping over the sharp pointy rocks that we won't be able to see and risk getting impaled or fried by the lava? I don't think so."

"I agree, Master. It's too dangerous out here, especially at night," said Ahsoka. "Let's just set up a camp here, where it's pretty safe, and we'll just have everyone take turns at guard duty."

Anakin folded his arms.

"Well, if we _must_ stop now, Emma, _you're _keeping guard first."

"It would be my pleasure," Emma replied, mock beaming.

Emma sat in front of the tents for two hours, her lightsaber hilt in her hand. It wasn't activated, and she was twirling it nonchalantly. Close to the end of her shift, the light on her comlink flashed repeatedly and buzzed.

"Hello?"

"Mistress Moonrunner?" asked the voice on the other end. It was Garrett!

"I'm alone, Senator, but I'm on guard duty, so neither of us should talk very loudly."

"I see. Where are you that you need to be on guard duty? I thought you were on Coruscant."

"Well, I was, but now Taisha and I are stuck with Anakin and his Padawan on a mission to infiltrate a Separatist base."

"Why do you say 'stuck'?"

"Padawan Tano, I have no problem with. She's a good Padawan, a little headstrong sometimes, but I don't care. But Anakin! He's been annoying me ever since before we were Knighted and received our own apprentices! After the whole 'Hero With No Fear' thing came up, he's been acting even worse! He still doesn't know about me in the prophecy. I think it's because, as I put it to Taisha, the Council's to afraid to burst his supercilious bubble!"

"That's not it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's tried to tell me."

There was a pause on Garrett's end of the connection.

"Are you wearing the necklace I gave you?"

Emma managed a smile.

"Yeah, I am."

She fingered the chain, although the ring pendant itself was hidden underneath her tunics.

"I hate being on this Force-forsaken planet," she muttered to herself.

"Which one?"

"Sarapin."

"That's not good…"

"What? What's not good? Is something wrong?"

"That's the Separatist base our old friend Malow Hasch is operating in! Be careful, Emma. We both know from personal experience what he can do to people; it's sick, really…"

"How do you know where he is?" Emma asked, furrowing her brow.

"Well, partially it's because the Senate receives Jedi intelligence were many of the Separatist leaders supposedly are. He's one of them. And then it's also partially because he sends my head of security notes saying 'I'm on this planet today! Bet you can't catch me! Why am I acting like a five-year-old?' about every other week."

"Have you given those notes to somebody?"

"Of course. We're trying to detect patterns or something, partially to determine if he'll ever return to some of those places, partially to predict where he might end up next. But that's not important. Just be careful, okay?"

"I know, Garrett. I promise I will. I love—"

She cut herself off. Someone, namely, Anakin, was getting up and coming.

"I have to go! Be careful yourself!" she whispered quickly.

She clicked off the signal just as Anakin came outside.

"Who were you talking to?" he asked, sounding grumpy.

"What? Who says I was talking to anyone?"

"I heard voices."

"Maybe you were just imagining things. Wouldn't be the first time," was Emma's scathing reply.

Anakin glowered yet again and took his place on the ground.

"Just go away and get some sleep so you'll be less irritable."

As Emma turned in for the rest of the night, she said,

"And clearly the past few hours have done nothing for you."

She left Anakin fuming outside the camp.

* * *

Dawn came, and nothing else of importance had happened during the night. The Jedi and the clones got up quickly and headed out to find the base. After the events previously that night, Emma and Anakin were "officially not talking." Their apprentices were instructed to act as messengers for them.

"Ahsoka, tell Emma that she needs to stop _yammering_ to her Padawan and risking blowing our cover," Anakin said angrily after he couldn't take Emma and Taisha's conversations any more.

Ahsoka sighed.

"Mistress Moonrunner…"

"I get it," Emma snapped.

Later…

"Taisha, tell Anakin that he needs to stop complaining about the heat. We both grew up on Tatooine; compared to that dust ball, he should be able to take this lava heat like a _Jedi_."

Taisha rolled her eyes.

"Master Skywalker…"

"Tell your Mistress to stop her own complaining about my complaining!"

"That made no sense at all," muttered Emma dryly.

Their irate comments shot back and forth for quite some time. Finally, everyone turned quiet as the green dot on the map projection almost touched the red dot resembling the Separatist base. They crouched behind some larger rocks as the massive base came into view.

"Okay, all we have to do is sneak into the base, grab the plans hidden inside, get out quickly, and rendezvous before we get killed," Emma said softly.

"Great plan," Anakin commented sarcastically, "it's not like we don't know where the Force the plans are hidden, or where droids are keeping watch, or where the Separatists are milling around outside, or in general, have any plan on how to do it!"

"One: we kill any droids that give us grief. Two: the Separatists usually hide in the base so Jedi like us won't take them captive when trying to infiltrate said base. Three: the plans are probably in the main control room. And four: we figure out a plan on how to do it!"

"Well, you're clearly not smart enough to actually come up with the plan yourself!"

Trying to remain undaunted by Anakin's remark, Emma retorted,

"Ah, Ani, you naïve little youngling, a fully-fledged Jedi Knight _always _has a plan!"

At this, Anakin blew his top.

"All right, that's it! I am sick and tired of you! I am _not_ naïve, I'm _not_ a youngling, and I'm a fully-fledged Jedi Knight just as much as yourself! And _you_ do _not_ call me Ani! Just because you're older than me by a few months doesn't entitle you to boss me around! Skill is what really counts, and I'm the one who has more of it!"

At this, _Emma_ blew _her_ top.

"Let me get this straight once and for all, Skywalker! I do _not_ think age entitles me to be bossy to you, and you do _not_ have more skill than me! Just because you're the Chosen One, and you are adored and revered by swooning girls everywhere as a hero does _not_ automatically make you better than any other Jedi! And it does _not_ give you the permission to go waltzing around and telling everyone you're superior to whoever-they-are because you're supposedly going to bring balance to the Force! Well, you know what? You're not the only Jedi who's better than any other one who's ever existed!"

Taisha gasped. Was Emma really going to break it to Anakin? Anakin looked at his brown-haired female counterpart in shock and confusion.

"But… There's only one in the prophecy. And that one is _me_!"

"I never said anything about the prophecy!" Emma replied, panicking.

"It was implied."

"Well then, you were mistaken. Anyway, this mission has to get done. So let's figure out a plan, and we'll all get out unharmed."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I have something in mind. I'm a good strategist."

They had a brief glaring match. No one turned out to be the winner because Taisha and Ahsoka began sneaking out from the cover of the rocks. Their mentors called them back sharply.

"Okay, Taisha: you and Ahsoka will need to cause some sort of distraction. Take some clones with you. You'll need to avert their attention from the main control room. Go around killing a bunch of droids or pull a fire alarm or something," Emma whispered. "While you are distracting them, _he_," the woman jerked her head distastefully at Anakin, "and I will sneak in and steal the plans to take back to the Council. We'll need a few clones to cover us while we're at it. Got it?"

Ahsoka, Taisha, and the clones nodded.

"What if there's a security alarm surrounding the plans?" Anakin asked.

"Then we get out of there quickly and make a run for it, or prepare to fight."

The group snuck around a side of the base and slipped through a side door. Taisha and Ahsoka put on their cloaks, despite the heat, and then the four split up with a few clones following each group.

Finding the plans was easy for Emma and Anakin. They didn't encounter very many droids, thanks to their apprentices' distraction, and the ones they did come across were dismantled immediately. The plans were indeed in the main control room. Of course, a lot of sneaking around and standing very still was mandatory for them to get there without being caught. However there was a catch once the did arrive: the plans were in plain sight on the planning table, almost waiting for Jedi like them to take them.

Emma walked up quietly, not sensing any trip wires or laser beams, but she could sense a trap. She stared at the plans.

"These are the real thing," she whispered, examining them.

"Then take them and go!" Anakin prompted. But Emma shook her head, her long, dark brown hair swishing.

"It can't be that easy. I sense a trap."

"You're being paranoid. How would the Separatists know we're here?"

"They're probably prepared for any possible infiltration such as this one."

"Oh, just take them. We'll be able to get out of here quickly," Anakin scoffed, snatching the plans from the hologram projector. No alarm sounded. "See? No alarm. There wasn't a trap at—"

He was cut off by a sudden, blaring alarm that made them clutch their ears to muffle the loud noise. They had indeed been caught.

* * *

**Yay! A cliff-hanger! Chapter four should be out relatively soon. I've started it, but it's not that far along, although I do have a pretty firm idea of what all is going to happen. I was also wondering... who else is a Maroon 5 fan? Anybody? Well, thanks for reading anyway!**

**~Katie~**


	4. Treason

**Hi, everybody! It's me again, unfortunately without a timely update. My computer got a virus! (And then it mysteriously disappeared- gold star to anyone who can figure out why, because I certainly have no idea!) Now on to the thanking and cookie-giving! Thanks to Sheila Chiaroscura, formerAnnie, JNottle, and mylia11 for reviewing! As always, you rock!**

**As to my question about Maroon 5 from the last author's note, I was just wondering who else was a fan since the "theme" for this story is going to be "Misery" by them. (Second-best song ever, IMO) It'll be more apparent as to why later.**

**Well, I think I've blabbered enough, on with the story! Star Wars is not mine. It belongs to George Lucas and his minions at LucasFilm.**

* * *

Taisha and Ahsoka cautiously crept out from behind the rock as their mentors began to enact their operation.

"What are we supposed to do?" Ahsoka whispered.

"Make a distraction!" hissed Taisha. "I thought we were clear on that."

Ahsoka sighed and shook her head.

"No, I meant, how are we supposed to distract them?"

Taisha shrugged. She truly hadn't had an idea in mind.

"Well, my Mistress said to start attacking randomly or pull a fire alarm."

"We've got clones. Want to attack randomly?"

Taisha nodded, smiling widely.

"Definitely. Now how do you say we go about this?"

It was Ahsoka's turn to grin this time. The shadows her hood created over her face made her smile appear fluorescently mysterious.

"Follow my lead," Ahsoka said slyly.

She darted out into the open, immediately attracting the attention of some of the droid guards. They began to direct fire at her; in response, Ahsoka whipped out her lightsabers and began to block. Taisha took this as her cue to follow Ahsoka away. There weren't very many guards on the outside of the base, which made for a rather boring beginning of a distraction.

"Alarm, then?" Taisha suggested after only she, Ahsoka, and most of their clones were left standing.

Ahsoka agreed. There needed to be another effort. Not many droids had responded to the backup calls, which was unusual. She and Taisha slipped inside the base discreetly and searched for alarm. They found one pretty quickly, but before they could even pull it, one sounded anyway.

* * *

They had indeed been caught. Emma swore loudly in Huttese.

"I told you!" she shouted over the noise of the alarm.

Anakin was already almost at the door.

"There's no time for this! Yell at me later, but right now, we have to get out of here!"

Emma sighed, snatched up the plans, and dashed to follow Anakin out the door as she began to hide the plans in her belt pouch. Unfortunately, going through the door where they had come was a big mistake. The very last person Emma wanted to see, Malow Hasch, stood waiting for them for them, and he had a squad of five armed droids with him. There were two blasters clipped to his belt and an additional one was in his hand. Quite the usual.

"Senator Lowen's Jedi friend! How pleasant to see you again! How's your side doing? Oh… and I see you've brought a friend with you to visit. How nice," Malow said sarcastically, sneering.

"My side is better, no thanks to you," Emma hissed, seething, as she reached for her lightsaber. The five droids' guns clicked as they prepared to fire at her.

"That's good to know. But if you and your little friend would gladly come with me."

* * *

The prison chambers of the base were not pleasing. Anakin and Emma didn't expect them to be. They sat in cell, arms crossed, as laser beams for the doors prevented them from doing anything to get out. Their lightsabers had been confiscated, as well as the plans.

"This is entirely your fault," Emma growled. "If you hadn't snatched up those plans when we—_I_—knew it was going to be a trap, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"_My_ fault? _You_ were the one who came up with the entire plan!" Anakin retorted.

"I planned on disabling the alarm system before I even _touched_ the plans! I _told_ you not to touch the plans! But did you listen to me? _No_."

Anakin made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat and said nothing else. He sat in the cell as Emma glared murderously at him. It had only been a few minutes when the very Separatist who had captured them came into the cell.

"Senator Lowen's Jedi friend, I need to speak to you," he said, turning off the cuffs that bound Emma's hands together. The woman got up hesitantly and followed her husband's archenemy out the door, which immediately sealed themselves shut once she left. Anakin was left, confused, inside. Malow led Emma into the cell next door, but he didn't lock her in or close the doors on her.

"I am so glad that _you_ were one of the Jedi chosen to _attempt_ to infiltrate this base," Malow started.

"Really? Because I'm starting to get second thoughts," Emma replied coolly.

The Separatist standing across from her smirked.

"I have a deal for you, Senator Lowen's Jedi friend. If you accept this deal, you and your friend will be set free, with the plans and your lightsabers."

"Like I'm that thick," Emma scoffed.

"Here's my request," Malow continued, completely ignoring her. "I want you to spy on Senator Lowen for me. Do whatever you have to. Flirt with him to get them, even, if you see the need. Try to squeeze the Republic's secrets out from him. As an ally, he'll be sure to give them to you easily, but most of all, I need his _personal_ weaknesses. Anything that will help me bring him down."

"If you want the Republic's secrets, then why would you let us off with the plans?"

"Because we can evacuate before the Republic sets out to destroy it. Now, what say you to my offer?"

"No. I am not going to betray a _friend_ just to help _you_."

Especially not Garrett. _Especially_ not him.

"I know exactly where the scar on your side is. I could just as easily reopen it if you continue to refuse."

Malow reached out an arm to Emma's side, and he was about to touch it, when Emma swatted his hand away and slapped him on the face.

"Get your hand away from me, _sleemo_!" she hissed.

Malow rubbed the red mark Emma had left on his cheek, anger flashing in his pale eyes.

"If you are unwilling to cooperate, then I'm afraid I have no choice."

Hasch smirked and jammed the cuffs back on her wrists. He pushed her back to the cell with Anakin; he pressed a button on the wall, making the cuffs send a powerful jolt of electricity through her body. Emma groaned in pain and collapsed onto the cold floor.

"I tried to be agreeable. I'm deeply sorry that it had to end this way."

Malow looked at the two Jedi in disgust one last time and walked away.

"What was _that_ all about?" Anakin asked incredulously.

"He wanted me to betray the Republic. I slapped him. He shocked me. I'm back here."

"You couldn't have tried to cooperate?"

"It was a bad idea! And besides, I would rather die a thousand deaths than even _pretend_ to betray the Jedi Order and the Republic!"

There was a metal clanking sound above them, starting right after Emma stopped talking. The air grate in the ceiling wiggled, and two Padawans jumped down from it.

"Taisha?"

"Ahsoka?"

Ahsoka and Taisha grinned.

"That's us."

"What are you two doing here?" Emma asked.

Taisha shook her head, and she looked nervously at the corridor outside the cell.

"No time to explain right now! Quickly, up into the vent!"

One by one, the four Jedi leaped into the air vent.

"I've always wanted to do this," Emma commented cheerfully as she began to wriggle through the labyrinth of vents.

"Keep it down!" growled Anakin. "Do you want them to hear us up here?"

He paused, and then his eyes widened.

"Our lightsabers! And the plans! We _cannot_ leave without them!"

"It's all right, Master," Ahsoka said, rounding a corner. "They're right over here. We already killed the droids guarding them, so we should be able to just take them and get the Force out of here!"

She pushed out another air grate beneath them and jumped down. She returned a few seconds later, holding the two lightsabers and the plans. She gave the lightsabers to their respective owners and gave the plans to her master.

"We have to act quickly, though," Taisha said. "They're going to notice you two are gone any minute now."

"Do you know the way out?"

Taisha nodded.

"We came from the exit. Fortunately, it's not too far away. We sent the troops back to the rendezvous point, and the clones we asked to stay behind are bringing our ship so we can get away quickly."

Emma nodded.

"I'm proud of the both of you. Good job, girls."

A few minutes later, all four practically fell out of the vent outside and dashed to the rendezvous point. So far, the Separatists hadn't noticed Anakin and Emma's absence. They were about the reach the point when the base alarms began to wail again. Anakin cursed and ran even faster. Emma could see their ship approaching them, but as the droids began to swarm out of the base, firing at them, she wished it would come a little faster. They were so close, but the droids were gaining on them. Right before they got into the droids' range, Anakin leaped up onto the ship before it even touched the ground. He shouted for the rest of them to come up, and they did.

Breathing heavily, they all stood in the cockpit as the clone pilot took them away from Sarapin, their mission complete.

* * *

Eris Mercury was having a less eventful day. That morning he did sparring practice with Oram, and for the rest of the afternoon, he was stuck meditating until dinner. He didn't hate meditating as much as Emma did, but he still wasn't its biggest fan. At first, he did try to focus, but it was in vain. His mind began to wander, and soon he was thinking of something—someone—else.

Eris showed up for dinner with his mentor with a puzzled look on his face—not a look he expressed often at all!

"Something wrong, Eris?" Oram asked, handing some fruit on a plate over to Eris.

Eris shrugged.

"No, nothing's wrong."

He paused. "Well… I do have a question."

"All right then, let's hear it."

Eris swallowed.

"It's a pretty basic question, but… How exactly does the Jedi Order feel about relationships?"

He bit his lip and looked at his mentor nervously. In response, Oram raised his eyebrow.

"Any particular reason, or..."

"No reason!" Eris said hastily. "No reason at all!"

Oram lowered his eyebrow, but a suspicious look still lingered in his eyes.

"Well, then, obviously, romantic relationships of any kind are forbidden. All Jedi your age need to keep that in mind. It's one of the easiest rules to remember, although it's sometimes one of the hardest rules to follow; I'm disappointed, Eris, I would have thought you'd remember something like that."

"Sorry, Master," Eris mumbled.

"If you're focused enough on the Force, you will be able to ignore any romantic feelings you may have for someone. Remember that breaking this rule has brought many a Jedi to ruin," Oram said sternly. Then his voice lowered, and his tone was more gentle. "And it will continue to do so forever. Don't let it happen to you."

* * *

"Fortunately, we were able to escape, recover the plans, and get off the planet," Emma was explaining to the Jedi Council. Anakin stood next to her, nodding occasionally as she recounted an abridged version of the events on Sarapin—they had mutually agreed that they would both say nothing about their apprentices' role in escaping captivity. "Jedi casualties were zero, and clone casualties were moderate. Some clones were killed getting us out of the base, and others were killed creating the diversion. We're still waiting on an exact number."

Anakin stepped forward and handed the plans to Mace.

"We must note that the Separatists _are_ aware that we ended up with the plans in the end. They probably will start evacuating soon."

Ki-Adi-Mundi shrugged.

"Still, we will form another campaign to destroy the base anyway. After all, the Separatists _are_ trying to steal the Republic's biggest energy provider… _again_. It's a wonder they attempted taking it a second time. I personally think they would have learned their lesson!"

"I'll lead the campaign," Anakin volunteered eagerly.

Emma rolled her eyes at this, and the Master Windu shook his head.

"No, Skywalker. You've helped with this enough; we need you in other places. The Outer Rim needs reinforcements."

Emma opened her mouth to volunteer herself, but Mace knew her intentions and shook his head again.

"_No_, Moonrunner. We need you in the Outer Rim as well. We will get another Jedi to handle this. Don't doubt our judgment."

Anakin and Emma relented reluctantly, but they each dipped their heads and bowed respectfully.

"We understand."

"You are dismissed," Yoda said.

Emma and Anakin nodded again and retreated from the Council Chambers. Once they were out, they looked at each other, glared, and went their separate ways without saying anything else. Taisha met up with her respective mentor a few minutes later.

"How did it go?" she asked.

Emma shrugged.

"Not bad at all, but not great. Normal, I guess. We did the report, handed over the plans, we left. Nothing special."

"Are they going to continue the campaign on Sarapin?"

"Yes, but we aren't going to be in on it, and neither is Anakin. They're going to assign somebody else. We, on the other hand, will probably be sent to the Outer Rim within the next week."

"Fun. _Another_ multiple-month campaign to protect some other boring, abnormal planet that has barely anything to do with the Republic!"

"Do you _want_ the Separatists to take control of important resources and strategic trade routes, airways, headquarters locations, positions for other attacks... Those territories are rebelling, Taisha. We need to put them in their place. And anyway, these sieges are our prime chance to force the Separatists to surrender! We've pushed them out of the core and the Mid Rim! Now just the Outer Rim is left! We are _so_ close to ending this stupid war!"

"_Need to put them in their place_? You have to admit that the Republic's been unfair to those systems! They haven't been well-represented in the Senate! Just ask Senator Lowen; you just visited him only a few days ago!"

"That's not the entire problem, Taisha, and you know that. The Separatists are a threat to galactic security. As Jedi, it's our duty to _protect_ the _security_ of the galaxy. They shot first by taking a Senator hostage and attempting to _execute_ her for no accurate or logical reason. We defended, things exploded into war."

"Emma, you're being ignorant and delusional."

At this, Emma stopped walking abruptly and whirled around to face her apprentice directly. Her eyes flashed dangerously, and her voice dropped to a snarl.

"I'm being _loyal_! Call me ignorant and delusional again, or fail to use proper respect to your superior, and you will find yourself in the _front line_ of one of the battles with a blaster bolt headed directly at your stomach, _Padawan_. And if you happen to survive that, you will _most definitely_ find yourself in prison, charged with treason."

Taisha's eyes widened, and she shrank back in alarm.

"I…" she squeaked.

Emma relaxed slowly, and emitted a long sigh, gradually turning around and walking on through the corridors of the Temple again.

"Meanwhile, training room. _Now_. Refine the saber techniques I most recently went over. Next time we spar, I want those techniques to be _perfect_."

Taisha nodded timidly and dashed off to practice as her mentor looked after her sternly. Once she was out of sight, Emma furrowed her eyebrows and sighed again. She didn't like yelling at her apprentice, who also happened to be her best friend, but in Emma's mind, she had deserved it.

* * *

Taisha hadn't meant to insult her mentor, or at least, offend her as much as she had. She could never tell when Emma was speaking to her as her friend or her apprentice, and this time, she had gotten it dead wrong. Needless to say, Emma's moods were difficult to read when she wasn't angry. It wasn't Taisha's fault that Emma made the line between friends or master-apprentice hard to delineate. Taisha picked up a drill lightsaber and swung it around harshly, making a swift _ffssshhh _sound as it cut through the air. She had half a mind _not_ to practice the saber techniques, but the other half in her mind warned her not to; she'd be in twice as much trouble if she didn't do what her master had asked of her.

After a couple minutes of practicing, the door of the training room creaked open quietly and a ginger-haired apprentice meekly entered.

"Hi, Taisha," he said quietly, smiling a little.

Taisha smiled in return and lowered the practice saber.

"Hello, Eris? Did your Master send you to practice saber techniques as well?"

Eris nodded.

"Yeah. He says my form is getting sloppy."

"I'm in trouble," admitted Taisha, looking away embarrassedly.

At this, Eris's eyes widened, and his mouth drew into a large grin.

"_You_? In trouble! Gee, Taisha, what did you do?"

"Disrespect."

Eris laughed.

"Who would've thought?" he mused aloud. "Taisha Starminick, in trouble for disrespect!"

"Well, at least _my_ form isn't sloppy!"

The grin immediately fell off of Eris's face, but he looked at Taisha sheepishly.

"Then maybe you could help me? I perfect my form while you perfect some saber techniques?"

Taisha shrugged.

"Sounds like a deal."

She grinned cunningly, set down the practice saber, and drew her real lightsaber, her dark brown eyes glinting. Eris returned the gesture.

"Ladies first," he allowed politely.

"Big mistake," replied Taisha.

She swung her lightsaber, and the two Padawans met in a sparring match. And while they fought, the angry feelings Taisha had currently harbored towards her mentor slowly ebbed away.

* * *

Master Windu was baffled. He didn't know what to make of it, forcing him to steal a quiet meeting with Yoda in the meditation rooms of the Temple.

"Master Yoda, I've been rereading the Prophecy and thinking it over again, trying to figure out if Anakin and Emma are really the Chosen Ones, and I've come across something… Something disturbing, to say the least."

"Go on."

"Our suspicions have been confirmed. We have been _grossly_ misreading the Prophecy for over thirteen years."

* * *

**Air Vent Escape FTW! (TV Tropes will ruin your vocabulary) I hope the escape part wasn't horrible; it's not my best work. But I do like the ending! ;) I have a poll on my profile, and it will affect a detail in this story! (Not a major detail, but I still need it.) So please vote on that! Chapter 5 will hopefully be coming shortly. I'm on spring break, but so far I've dedicated most of my time to playing Harvest Moon, one of the most addicting games ever. So unitl next time, thanks for reading, and please review!**


	5. Lies

**Well, Chapter 5 is here! And it's almost band camp time again! We're doing a pretty awesome show; it's about Native Americans. The music is super-cool, plus we all come out of tepees at the beginning of the show! Fun! And as usual, thanks to the wonderful Sheila Chiaroscura and Carak for reviewing! **

**Nope, still don't own Star Wars. I really don't have that kind of money right now...**

* * *

Almost six months had passed since the almost-failed mission to steal the plans off the Separatists' Sarapin base. In that time, Sarapin had officially been re-captured by the Republic, and the Separatists had been almost completely pushed back to the Outer Rim. The tide was turning in favor of the Republic, and a feeling of excitement was rippling through the Jedi, the Senate, and the civilians as the war was seemingly drawing to a close.

It was a little bit too perfect.

* * *

Dash-el Perr had returned to Coruscant two weeks before, and he was currently waiting in the hangar for Emma and Taisha's ship to arrive. All three's missions had been completed successfully, although a lot of times, not necessarily smoothly, and the Council had granted them a short, month-long break before they were to be deployed again in order for them to rejuvenate and fresher Jedi to take their places in the campaigns.

After a couple minutes of waiting, Dash-el's patience finally paid off as the Republic battleship landed in the hangar. Emma and Taisha emerged from it only a few seconds later, and they were clearly arguing about something.

"Your hair's a mess!" Taisha complained.

Emma rolled her eyes.

"There are more important things than brushing your hair, especially during a war."

"Yeah, but when you haven't brushed it in a month…"

By this time, Taisha and Emma had reached Dash-el, so Taisha broke off and smiled widely as Emma hugged her former mentor.

"Master Dash-el! I've missed you!"

Emma let go of him and jumped back excitedly. She grinned, but her smile melted momentarily as her head whipped around and her hand lashed out to prevent Taisha from trying to sneak a comb out of her belt pouches. "I _told_ you, Taisha, I'll brush it later!"

Cheeks flushing red, Taisha took her hand out of the belt pouch.

"Just a quick comb-through?"

"_No_."

The Padawan sighed, defeated, and her shoulders slouched a little to show this. However, the slight tension between the two dissolved almost immediately as Emma turned back around to face Dash-el, grinning again.

"Glad to see you alive!" Emma commented brightly, and although Taisha looked somewhat mortified at this, Dash-el simply chuckled.

"Yes, well, there were a couple of times I was afraid I'd be stuck on whatever planet for forever, if you know what I mean," he admitted. "And dislocated a couple of joints on various occasions."

He rubbed his shoulder, frowning for a moment as if reliving the pain. Then he looked over Emma and Taisha worriedly. He indicated some gauze wrapped around Emma's right forearm. "It looks like somebody had a couple of accidents as well."

Emma looked at the gauze on her arm and blushed.

"Ah, yes. That. You see, there was this detonator, and I was near where it exploded because I was busy ushering everyone else to safety, so it blasted me back and singed my arm a little…" she mumbled, blushing even more as she told the story.

Taisha rolled her eyes.

"Oh, please. You were trying to cook dinner the other night, and you accidentally spilled boiling water on your arm."

"Good job," quipped Dash-el blatantly, although a small smirk turned up the corner of his mouth. "Gee, Emma, you've become quite the liar recently. Seriously, what else are you lying about?"

By this point, Emma's face was completely red.

"IT WAS JUST THAT ONE BURN MARK!" she cried, attracting the attention of the other Jedi in the hangar. She stormed off, flustered, with her head tilted downwards and her feet shuffling quickly against the floor.

Taisha and Dash-el merely looked after her, confused.

"Wow. Touchy much?"

* * *

There were many things Garrett Lowen loved about being senator, but with those things came everything he hated about it. Outrageously long sessions that began in the morning and ended early in the morning _the next day_ were one of the things he hated. Being able to spend more time with his best friend, Senator Me'jor Azora of Mindor, was (usually) one of the things he liked. But even that had a downside or two. For example, Me'jor walked into Garrett's office the same day Emma and Taisha returned to Coruscant with one of his usual elfish and mischievous smiles on his face. It took only a quick glance for Garrett to realize what he wanted.

"Whoever she is, I'm not interested," Garrett sighed, not even looking up from his work.

Immediately, the smile on Me'jor's face melted off, and his expression turned pleading.

"Aw, _come on_! My wife said she's really nice and—"

"I'm. Not. Interested," Garrett repeated, his teeth gritted.

Me'jor pouted and sat down in one of the chairs in front of his best friend's desk.

"You're no fun at all, you know that, right?"

"Just drop it, Me'jor," sighed Garrett.

Me'jor didn't listen and continued talking.

"Well, you're twenty-three; you're still young. You've got plenty of time to find yourself a nice girl and—"

Garrett seriously considered telling Me'jor the truth about his current marital status, but he refrained. Sure, he trusted his best friend, and sure, telling him would completely dissolve his problem of being constantly badgered to get married. But who knows who might accidentally overhear? Who knows who Me'jor might accidentally tell? Who knows who might walk in right as he was telling him? And who knows what Emma would say!

So instead, Garrett looked up from his paperwork for the first time since Me'jor had come into his office, a rare, wrathful look alit in his blue-gray eyes.

"I. Said. Drop. It," he snarled.

Me'jor's eyes immediately widened, and he backed off.

"Sorry, man! No need to get so angry about it!"

Garrett sighed and rubbed his temples tiredly.

"No, I shouldn't have snapped. It just gets really annoying."

Hastily, in order to avoid talking about this even more, Me'jor changed the subject.

"So… The Outer Rim sieges… They're going very well…"

Garrett pried himself from his paperwork and leaned backwards in his chair more comfortably.

"Yeah, every victory takes us one step closer to winning this stupid war."

Me'jor chuckled.

"Still a little pacifist, eh, Garrett? I guess that runs in the family."

Garrett stared at his friend with a solemn, serious look in his eyes. He didn't break his gaze.

"Well, don't I have reason not to support violence? And anyway, this war would have been avoided if we had worked out our problems diplomatically."

Me'jor smiled sympathetically.

"I know, I know. I feel exactly the same way."

Neither man said anything for a few minutes, creating an awkward and somewhat unsociable atmosphere.

"So, you want to come over to my place for dinner tonight? I'm sure Melinoa wouldn't mind having you over."

Garrett frowned. Wasn't today supposed to be the day Emma returned to Coruscant? He hadn't seen her in a couple of months; Senate hadn't been in session the last few times she was there, so he had been on Fresia instead. Usually the first day they were both in town, they would have a nice, long dinner together—just the two of them—and swap stories for hours. Emma usually talked most of the time, since her adventures were much more exciting, and Garrett's talk of bills, laws, and filibusters usually bored the Jedi to tears. He recalled that this was Emma's month-long break. He smiled, looking forward to it; the last time Emma was here on Coruscant for her break, he was on Fresia, trying to settle a nightmarish territorial dispute. He looked up to find Me'jor's eyebrows raised, expectantly waiting for an answer.

"Oh, sorry… I can't. I have plans… Thanks for the offer though," Garrett muttered quickly.

Me'jor's mouth immediately pulled into a wide grin, and Garrett immediately regretted his words.

"Ooh, is it with _a girl_? Garrett's got a girlfriend!" Me'jor sang.

Garrett flushed a bright shade of red.

"Do not, you tosser!"

"What's her name? Can I meet her?"

Garrett glared at his friend, this time a little less wrathfully, though.

"Go away or I shall snap at you a second time," he said bluntly.

Surprisingly, Me'jor did so, and got out of his chair slowly.

"Okay, okay, I'll leave you alone. For now."

Me'jor flashed Garrett another one of his mischievous smiles and left the office. Garrett simply stared after him for a few moments, and shook his head once he had left, sighing loudly.

* * *

As a general rule, Emma did not enjoy brushing her hair. This disdain for hairbrushes and the act itself stemmed from a simple bad habit in her late teens. As she and Dash-el began to be dispatched on more and more missions, she would often forget to pack her hairbrush. Her hair was thick, so missing a brushing for a few days—much less a week or two—would turn into a tangled nightmare. So, as she would have to endure painful combings that almost always ended in tears and a loud string of Huttese curse words, the young Jedi began to develop intense feelings of hatred for the simple hair care product. She turned a deaf ear to Taisha's protests that combing her hair would be much less painful if she just did it every day and proceeded to nickname her hairbrush "Darth."

However, when Garrett was involved, Emma became rather willing to brush her hair. In fact, she would go to great lengths to make sure her hair was completely free of tangles, and as smooth and non-messy as her wavy hair could get every time she saw him.

An hour before she was supposed to meet Garrett at his apartment, Emma stood in one of the females' refreshers in the Jedi Temple, obsessively dragging her brush through her long hair. She had already been brushing it for an hour before, and her scalp had started to hurt a long time ago. A few Jedi entering the refresher at that time gave her odd looks. Mistress Emma Moonrunner brushing her hair had turned into a bit of an urban legend throughout the Temple's females. Taisha had started it a few years before when she learned of her new mentor's hair care habits (or lack thereof). Thus, actually seeing it happen was bound to cause shock and disbelief. These odd looks were met with an irritated glare, and Emma would start brushing even more fiercely.

Somehow, word had gotten to Taisha that her mentor was in a refresher brushing her hair, and the black-haired apprentice had immediately run to find her best friend to see if the rumors were true. She burst through the doors, surprising Emma a little, and her mouth fell open.

"It's really happening!" she squealed, throwing her arms around the irritated Jedi. "See? Doesn't it look so nice now?"

She ran her fingers through a section of her mentor's hair, completely ignoring the older Jedi's death glare. Satisfied with the brushing job, she clapped and squealed some more. Then she smirked. "So what's the occasion?"

Emma immediately flushed red.

"It needed a brush, okay?" she defended.

Taisha scoffed.

"Well, tell me something I don't know! Seriously, what brought you to do it?"

"_The fact that I haven't brushed my hair in a few days_!" Emma nearly screeched.

Taisha held up her hands in mock surrender and smiled.

"Don't be so defensive about it. I see you don't want to tell me what's going on. I'll get off your back about it."

Emma exhaled, a little relieved.

"Thank you," she grumbled.

Taisha was about to turn to leave when she changed her mind and came back to her mentor's side.

"Since you're already at it, how about we cover up that scar of yours with a little bit of makeup? It detracts from the nice features of your face."

Emma frowned and traced the long scar underneath her left eye with her finger. She had always thought it made her look more respectable as a Jedi, even though she had only received the scar from cutting her cheek on a rock three years ago, instead of in battle. She also hated the idea of putting gunk on her face just to cover up a scar, much less for cosmetic purposes.

"_No_. I look fine. I don't need to doll myself up for no reason at all."

Taisha shrugged.

"I suppose. Maybe we'll cover up your scar in the morning."

_Yeah, too bad I won't be here in the morning_, Emma thought.

The two women left the refresher and headed towards their living quarters. Upon arriving there, Taisha immediately strode into her room.

"I'm getting to bed early; it's been a long day, has it not?"

Emma smiled smally and nodded.

"Yes, it has. Oh, and sleep in as long as you want," she added. "I won't start training until later in the week."

Taisha's door was already closed, but Emma could sense her apprentice's delight at her words.

"Yay! Thanks, Mistress!"

Emma went to her own room and sat on her bed. She looked at the bag of clothes and toiletries she was bringing to Garrett's apartment that night. They would both be there the entire month, so Emma usually just lived in her husband's apartment unless she needed to sleep at the Temple for their secret's sake. She squirmed excitedly, obviously looking forward to seeing her husband again. Then she glanced at her door, wondering when Taisha would fall asleep so she could leave. Hopefully it was within the next ten minutes so Emma could arrive at Garrett's apartment before he got home from work.

After five minutes of simply twiddling her thumbs boredly, Emma could take waiting no longer and decided to head out early. Fortunately, she didn't run into any Jedi who might question as to why she was taking a bag of clothes and other necessities out of the Temple. One of these Jedi would be Anakin Skywalker, who was luckily still on a mission, although due back any day now.

Emma loved Coruscant, especially at night. Growing up on Tatooine, she hadn't seen many large buildings until the day she first arrived to train as a Jedi. Even thirteen years later, Coruscant's night lights still seemed rather magical. She made her way to Garrett's apartment complex and rode the lift up to her husband's place, nonchalantly looking around and drumming her fingers on her leg.

Garrett was apparently not home from work yet, but Emma was still greeted as she entered the apartment. Garrett's droid—Dee, as the he and Emma fondly called her— rushed up to the Jedi the second she stepped out of the lift.

"Oh, Mistress Emma! You're back! It's so nice to see you! You look wonderful! Can I get you anything to eat?" the droid bubbled enthusiastically.

Emma smiled even more and shook her head.

"No, thank you. I'm fine right now."

The droid reached for Emma's bag.

"Let me take that to the bedroom, dear. Make yourself comfortable! Master Lowen should be back any minute now!"

As the droid hurried off to bring Emma's things to the bedroom, the Jedi couldn't help but smile widely, close her eyes, and breathe in the apartment's scent. It smelled like Garrett. Emma stretched and walked over to the sofa, sitting down on it and reclining comfortably. She laid her head back and closed her eyes again, enjoying the comfort that Temple furniture couldn't hope to offer her. Not too long after, her head perked up as she sensed the lift running, with a familiar presence inside it. She crossed her legs, grinned, and waited on the couch until the lift stopped at that floor. The doors open, and in walked Garrett.

Garrett had not to see Emma there so early. His wife got up, ran to him, and hugged him tightly, catching him by surprise. After he got over the slight shock, he smiled as well and hugged her back.

"I've missed you so much!" Emma explained, her voice muffled by Garrett's clothes.

"Me too! How long has it been, exactly?"

Emma stepped back and shrugged.

"I don't really keep track anymore; it just depresses me."

Garrett looked his wife over to make sure she was all right, and his gaze fell upon her gauzed arm.

"You're hurt," he said blandly, gesturing to the gauze.

Emma looked down, blushed, and said,

"Oh, that? That's nothing."

She took his hand and led him towards the kitchen, where dinner was waiting for the two of them. She had skipped it earlier, claiming she had a stomachache. Now, she was starving. "Yes, I was actually singed on this arm a little because I was saving my troops from a detonator blast. It's not too bad."

Garrett raised an eyebrow.

"Based off of your rather pompous voice and the fact that you blushed when I mentioned it, I'm going to assume you're lying so you can impress me, and you actually received that burn mark in a rather clumsy and stupid accident."

Emma rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Boiling water. I was trying to make dinner one night."

"Now that, I believe."

"So what, you're saying that I _wouldn't_ get a burn mark from saving my troops from detonator blasts?"

"No! Of course not! It's just that I can always tell when you're lying. You're cute when you lie."

Emma blushed and kicked Garrett in the shin lightly from underneath the table.

"Don't try to flatter me."

The two smiled and began eating, making idle conversation. However, a few minutes in, Garrett changed the subject from Emma's last mission to something he had been itching to tell her ever since he found out.

"So, you know my cousin, right?"

Emma looked up and nodded.

"Padmé? Yes. What about her?"

Garrett bit his lip, as if he'd rather not say what he was about to say.

"This may sound a little gossipy of me, but… Padmé's pregnant."

Emma's mouth dropped open and she stared at him in disbelief.

"_What?_ How long has _that_ been going on?"

Garrett shrugged.

"She's almost due. Weird, huh? She won't tell anyone who the father is. Even her sister. We tried to get Sola to get it out of her, but Padmé's been guarding who it is pretty closely. My uncle's not entirely thrilled about it, to say the least, seeing as she's not married and all. But he is happy for her, I can tell."

"That is weird… I wonder who it is… Do _you_ have any idea?"

Garrett shook his head.

"I'd have told you if I did. She hasn't had a boyfriend in… years, at least that I know of. That's what gets her parents and sister, too."

Emma shrugged.

"Well, maybe when the baby's born she won't be as secretive. But on a different note, I brushed my hair today… Can't you tell?"

Even when their dinner was long gone, Garrett and Emma talked and swapped stories until the later hours of the night.

* * *

Darth Monious sat at her desk, facing the window, and watching the various speeders go by. Things on Coruscant never seemed to slow down, even late into the night. Monious liked that. It was ignorance at its finest. Ignorance, that even at the most grand of places, something so dark was rising.

The Sith drummed her fingers on her armrest, waiting for a call that she had been waiting every night for the past week to come. And every night that week, her expectations had failed her, and her patience was waning.

The hologram receiver at her desk blinked and beeped, causing her to spin her chair around to look at it. With a long, white finger, she pressed the button, and the flickering blue figure of her colleague sprung to life on the projector.

"Finally!" Monious groaned.

"Mistress Moonrunner and her Padawan have returned, and Master Skywalker is going to arrive at the Jedi Temple any minute now," her colleague reported blatantly. He said nothing else, nor did his staticky expression reveal any emotion with his words.

However, as his hologram figure snapped away, Monious's thin lips pulled into a satisfied grin.

"Finally," she repeated. "Finally. The time has come. Let our plan commence."

She shed her cloak, worked herself up to a frenzy, and began to transmit her own holographic message.

She had a call to make.

* * *

**I enjoy writing evil people, especially when they have hidden identies. Also, we'll find out what call Monious made next chapter! This is where we get into the fun stuff! ****Sooo... On a completely different note, do any of you watch Hetalia? Also, it's past midnight here and I'm not tired at all. WHOO! PARTY!**

**As always, I love reviews. Reviews fuel my life. Well, not really. But they help. A lot. So review, please! (Ugh, what a lame way to try to get people to review!)**


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